Rabat – Two more people in Morocco have died from H1N1, raising the total number of deaths to 11.
According to the Ministry of Health, the ongoing “epidemiological situation remains normal compared with the previous season.”
The ministry said that an analysis carried out on 684 samples of people with influenza or severe acute respiratory infections showed the virus in 160 samples.
“For cases in public and private health facilities, the Ministry found that out of a total of 58 people who tested positive for H1N1, 15 patients were cured, while 32 patients are still receiving treatment.”
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The 11 people who died all had at least one factor of vulnerability, including pregnancy, chronic disease, and age.
Symptoms of H1N1 include a sore throat, fever, a stuffy and runny nose, headaches, body aches, and continuous fatigue. People with such symptoms are advised to stay home, get treatment, and cover their nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing. People who have a weakened immune system or chronic illness, including diabetes or heart conditions, should see a doctor if they begin to experience any flu symptoms.
Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said today that all facilities are mobilized to treat the virus.
El Othmani also visited Ibn Sina Hospital in Rabat on Sunday to stress the importance of high vigilance by health sector employees to combat the virus.
He added that the virus does not “require a sense of panic” because it is not unusual or greatly different from previous years.
He also advised citizens to visit a health facility if they begin to experience symptoms.
Several Moroccan media reported that 20 children are being treated for H1N1 in Casablanca’s Ibn Roshd Hospital.
The regional health directorate for the Casablanca-Settat region issued a statement to reassure citizens that the situation of H1N1 is normal and stable.
“Cases identified so far should not cause concern, because they are either cured or under treatment,” said the statement.
A Moroccan doctor in Canada, OumKaltoum Harati, told Morocco World News that H1N1 is “highly contagious and might in some cases lead to complications, like what we call pneumonia (pulmonary infection), respiratory failure, worsening of heart diseases and asthma.”
A Moroccan Ph.D. researcher in airborne-transmitted infections at the University of Amsterdam, Charifa Zemouri, also told MWN that the virus needs to be handled by preventive measures, like vaccination, ventilating houses and workspaces to dilute the air from virus particles, and refreshing the air constantly.
